Chapter 17: The Little Souls
—Jorgen's POV—
He sat at the kitchen table in the Cosma castle. No breakfast was served, as no one had the appetite to eat amidst the palpable tension. He couldn't help but feel the weight of the atmosphere press down on him, even as he tried to retain his usual demeanor. As he glanced at Cosmo, he noticed that he too was lost in thought, with a drawn and pale expression etched on his face. In the center of the table, the soul catcher and its trapped occupant served as a haunting reminder of the situation at hand.
The soul catcher had turned into a copper cage, the silver webs weaved through each bar, like intricate silk work. They hummed softly with energy, their gentle vibrations making a very delicate, almost musical sound. A melody that would both repel and subdue the soul inside so that it would not attempt to sneak through any gaps in the webs.
They could see the tiny soul confined inside, its movements slow and frail. It appeared resigned to its fate, knowing that there was no escape from this decorative prison. Despite the soul's apparent acceptance of its confinement, there was a palpable sense of sadness and loss that emanated from the cage.
…It was such a small soul and as colorless as water. If not for the gentle light that emitted from it, it would almost be invisible.
Poof gazed sadly at the butterfly that remained at the bottom of the cage with drooped wings. A tinkling, bell-like noise continued non-stop. It was the sound of a crying soul. "Tim-me...sad," The baby whispered, looking ready to cry himself. He doubted Poof completely understood what human souls were, but he was aware that this small creature was a part of Timmy's heart.
Cosmo reached towards the cage but then withdrew his hand, trying instead to stifle a sob. His body was still showing signs of frostbite and bruises, the discolored skin a stark contrast to his pale complexion. Even though fairies were known for their quick healing abilities, it was clear that Cosmo was not yet fully recovered from the ordeal. He, too, was still suffering from the bites and scratches he had endured. Maybe wounds inflicted by a soul would take longer to heal? At least Poof had gotten away unscathed. He had not thought that a human soul was capable of such an attack. Was it a sign that magic had contaminated it?
"….What's wrong with him?" Cosmo asked, looking with sad eyes at the incredibly tiny creature that was doing all it could to make its self appear even smaller as it tried to hide at the bottom of its exquisitely crafted prison.
"…A human's heart-soul…they are normally much bigger than this…" He confirmed. One did not need any knowledge of souls to know that something was wrong with Turner's just by looking. "The smallest I've seen are at least 1 inch…but…this can't be any bigger than 8mm…and souls are usually very colorful; they have a base color, and then many colors spread in patterns through their wings, but….Turner's is completely transparent…"
"What does that mean?" Cosmo looked at him anxiously, but he could only shake his head.
"I don't know. The colors show the core personality traits and experiences they've gained in all their past lives….for this soul to have no color…it can't mean anything good."
"Then, let's go to Fey world, I'm sure they'll know what to do!" Cosmo wiped at his tearing eyes, his voice turning frantic. "Mama says that my dad is very smart with things like this, and that he'll be able to fix Timmy. That'll he'll make him as good as new, no, better than new, and—-!""
"I don't think your mom told you the full details of what your father did." He cut Cosmo off, feeling his tension turn to anger at his ignorance. Just thinking about Nova's betrayal, the crimes he committed and the fate that befell those children he 'saved'…it was enough to make his blood boil and that, that man's son could be so in the dark about the matter, was infuriating. "Do you even know what Kinder are?"
"…Uhh…" Cosmo trailed off and glanced at Poof hesitantly; well, at least he seemed to be aware of that much, though he'd agree that it was not something Poof should be hearing about yet.
"Well, did she ever tell you about your father?" He asked more calmly now. He wouldn't be surprised if Stella Cosma had kept her mouth shut. For the sake of her and her boys, Nova's identity as the ringleader behind the child trafficking had been erased from the fairy public's minds, as well as the identities of those who had worked with Nova. Only their families had kept the unaltered memories. This was to prevent the innocent from being stigmatized for the crimes committed by their family member. Cosmo, who was terrible at keeping secrets, would have blurted it out….
Besides, Mama Cosma had been devastated by Nova's actions, and had probably never wanted Cosmo, too young at the time to remember anything, from ever learning of them.
"…Only just yesterday, when I told her Timmy was going for treatment…." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "She kinda gave me the short, sugar-coated version, though….but it sounds like he does at least care about kids a lot, even if he…" Cosmo gulped, his cheeks reddening.
"Yeah, well…I do at least agree with her that Nova and Piper are smart and that if anyone can help Turner, it's them." He saved Cosmo from having to say more in front of his son, who thankfully was much too interested in the butterfly to be paying full attention to their conversation. "But, a friendly word of advice, Cosmo, do not associate with that man. Once your godson's treatment is over, erase everything about Nova from your mind."
"…" Cosmo gave him a pitiful look. "Is Wanda going to be ok being around him?"
"If she's smart enough not to let him manipulate her emotions." He considered questioning Cosmo about Wanda's relationship with Timmy, but decided against it. The green fairy was not in the right mental or emotional state to answer questions meaningfully.
"And Timmy….is he going to be ok…?" Cosmo's voice sounded choked up as the tiny butterfly inside continued crying. Poof's eyes were beginning to get watery as he tapped the cage, trying to reassure the little soul.
He sighed. "…Timmy as he is now, should be fine….but if the heart soul has become too damaged…well…once this life is over, that's the end of him forever."
"Nooo, Tim-me…!" Poof began to cry now, and a few tears slid down Cosmo's cheeks.
Humans were strange creatures; living so many lives as different people all to gain enough positive or negative energy in order to become a 'complete being'. Unlike the fairies of old who were born complete, humans had to spend thousands of different lives to achieve such a state, with any tragic mishap along the way erasing their very existence.
All of their happiness, sorrows, wants, needs, desires, passions, everything a human experienced throughout their many lives was to add steps towards the goal of being 'completed'.
And yet a decent number of the original fairies had willingly chosen to surrender a 'completed state' and separate themselves in half and the majority of each generation afterwards born separated from their anti-counterparts, choose to remain that way. Their very existence probably seemed like a cruel joke through the eyes of a human's heart-soul.
"Is there no way to fix it?" Cosmo's bottom lip trembled. "My dad might know something! We should bring him there right away before he gets worse!"
To be honest, he wanted to take the cage and head to Fey World as quickly as possible, but that was not something he could do.
"Matters concerning human souls are very delicate. I've already sent a missive to the fairy council. There's no way I can just bring this into Fey world for examination without their approval."
"So we're stuck here, just waiting!?" Cosmo whined, looking physically pained.
"Poof, poof…?" Poof looked towards him, worried.
"You can plead with me all you want, but I can not open the gateway to Fey world. Only a member of the fairy council has the power to do so. Also…you cannot come with me. The fairy council only allows those with either official business or medical reasons to enter. "
Cosmo and Poof lowered their heads, looking defeated.
"Is there nothing we can do? I'm so worried about Timmy….! Just sitting here, waiting, is driving me nuts!"
"Poof, poof…."
"…" He sighed. "Look, normally letters can not be sent directly between Fey world and Fairy world as they need to be inspected by several parties for safety measures; however, because of circumstances, Wanda has special permission to send letters directly to me. If anything had happened to Turner, she'd have sent us a letter—"
As he was speaking, a letter suddenly appeared with a poof and landed on the table before him. He was momentarily dumbfounded as he stared at the unexpected arrival. Glancing up, he saw that both Cosmo and Poof appeared to be on the verge of having strokes. He looked down at the envelope that had the word 'urgent' stamped multiple times across it.
"….Well…this can't be good."
~ Wanda Pov ~
She kept pacing back and forth. It did not help, and it did not make her feel better, but she just couldn't bear staying still.
Since the moment Timmy's cries in his sleep had woken her up, she had been on edge. At first she had thought he was having a bad nightmare, but then remembered that Nova had taken away his ability to dream, so she tried to wake him to see if he was in pain.
Then…he took another seizure…
As soon as Nova and Piper arrived, they calmed him down using an unusual incense that emitted a peculiar fragrance. While she recognized familiar scents like frankincense, lemon, and orange, there were also unfamiliar ones that she couldn't identify. Even after Nova opened the balcony door to ventilate the room, the powerful aroma lingered in the air.
Timmy had woken up in her arms, babbling hysterically about Cosmo and Poof being in trouble and that his heart-soul was going to attack them. The more information she tried to get only made him more anxious as he kept saying there was no time and she needed to hurry and then….he collapsed from such extreme exhaustion, too frail to even be coherent as he desperately tried to warn them that something bad was happening to Cosmo, Poof and Jorgen. Nova had given him a mild sedative, which had left him in a bit of a stupor as the only means of calming him down.
As she worried for her husband and child, her godchild pleaded with her to leave and check on them. She almost gave in, but then she noticed a slight pink ring around Timmy's right wrist. It was a mild, pale bruise, which under different circumstances might have made her laugh and tease Timmy a little if he complained about it. But this was not just any bruise; she recognized it as a Stigmata, a sign of soul damage. Timmy was hurt, and the wound went far beyond mere physical injury. Even a small wound to the soul could have dire consequences.
She found herself in a dilemma - to stay or go. As a result, she aimlessly paced back and forth, unable to decide. The safety of Poof and Cosmo was a constant worry on her mind. Timmy had warned her of the danger they were in, and she was torn between rushing to their aid or staying by Timmy's side. Although she couldn't do much to assist Timmy, being present with him seemed to bring some comfort to him. He was injured and frightened, and she knew he needed her support.
"The boy's safe. We're not gonna do anything. Just take an hour and go look." Piper insisted, with a hint of offense at what she perceived to be hesitation due to mistrust of them.
"It's not….it's not that." She wanted to snap at her, that it was only natural not to trust a human child to be left alone with Fey, but worry made her voice weak. "It's not that." She repeated, perhaps in surprise at her own emotions. It was true. The reason she was still here wasn't because she feared leaving him with the Fey, though it was a concern, it was because…
"…I am very worried about Cosmo and Poof, but…Timmy is…Timmy is every bit as family as they are and…even as much as them getting hurt worries me…their…their immortal. Very few things can kill a Fairy. Humans, however…. die so easily." These were the thoughts that she had been grappling with, and despite her attempts to phrase them delicately, the blunt reality remained the same.
"It's ok my dear, it's an ugly but very rational truth." Nova's voice was soothing as he gazed at her from Timmy's bedside in sympathy. He kept stroking the mark on Timmy's wrist as if petting it could somehow heal it. "Would you allow me to perform a memory recall? Perhaps we may find the reason this mark has appeared."
"What's that?"
"Every Fey has one or two unique abilities," Piper explained. "As you already know, hypnoses through song is my speciality. Nova, though, is a total peeping tom when it comes to memories."
"I would appreciate it if you refrained from using that term." Nova's cheeks reddened slightly. "The ability in question is not of an offensive nature. I've never peered into the memories of others for entertainment or any selfish reasons. I employed it only to establish whether the children I was assisting to transport to Fey world were actually being mistreated or if it was only a matter of godparents desiring to claim a child as their own."
"But…" She was a little confused. "You did that while you were still a fairy, right? How would you have abilities belonging to a Fey?"
Nova grinned, but his eyes looked a little sad. "My Fey status went unnoticed for a significant amount of time. Initially, I was not cognizant of having merged with my other self. One cannot distinguish a Fey from a fairy based on physical characteristics alone. The realization that I had become one of the Fey was quite surprising, even to myself."
She had never wondered how one went about reuniting with their anti-self, as she had zero desire to become one with the anti-Wanda, but to hear that it could happen without you even being aware of it was a little spooky. She had always believed that it was a fully conscious decision. The temptation to ask more questions was certainly there, but….it could wait until Timmy was feeling better and they confirmed if Cosmo, Poof and Timmy's heart-soul were safe.
"So, you're going to look into his memories? Is it like mind reading?" She went over to be next to Timmy in the bed, whilst Piper, realizing that she was of no current help, settled down in an easy chair, curling up with a cup of coffee and a plate of donuts.
"It's….going to be more like…watching a stage play than just looking at memories. Well, it is hard to explain." Nova admitted. "But if you hold on to his hand, you can see what I see."
Words could not describe how happy she was to hear that. Doing nothing was driving her crazy. She held Timmy's hand in her own, trying to warm his cold skin. He looked at her with such a frail expression that it made her heart feel like it was melting.
"Shh, Timmy, it's going to be ok. We're just going to take a little peek to see what happened, alright?"
He sniffled, too weak to really converse, but his eyes were pleading with her. Even in a frail state like this, he was begging for her to go check on them, but she had already decided to stay by his side and she wasn't changing her mind.
"Shh, yes, we will help them." She told him, in order to put him at ease. "But first we need to see what's wrong. Can we look into your mind?"
Timmy gave him permission with a tiny nod. Nova smiled in a soothing way as he stroked back his hair with a gentle hand. She supposed this was Nova's way of showing affection, but…he had worn the same expression when tending to the animals outside. It was a sudden reminder that despite how kind Nova had been to her, that in the eyes of one of the Fey, a human child was the same thing as a pet.
"Ok now, let's take a deep breath and close your eyes." Nova lifted Timmy into a sitting position, and instructed her to keep a tight hold on his hand, whilst he held onto the other.
"You dear sweet child, I want you to imagine a door in your head. Think up a door that you feel best represents you. It can be your bedroom door, or a door to a secret hideout, or your home, or even a door entirely created by your imagination, but imagine that door opens up not to a room, but to you." Nova instructed while pressing his forehead against Timmy's. Wanda could see in her mind's eye a door materialize. It was his bedroom door, but covered in pictures and posters of all the things he liked and all the people he cared about. "Now, picture yourself opening the door from the inside."
The door in her mind was opening and Timmy was shyly peeking through the small gap; but he seemed different somehow from usual, though she couldn't put her finger on what it was.
"Yes, Well done, keep visualizing….now step aside and allow us in." Nova gently requested, and Timmy opened the door and stepped aside. Nova passed through the door, giving the boy a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Your hospitality is greatly appreciated."
In reality, she saw Timmy's body go limp in Nova's arms, but before she could ask him if he was alright, the images that had formerly been in her mind overtook all of her senses and she found herself standing in the bedroom she had made for Timmy at her castle.
The bedroom was empty, except for a small little ball of light. She felt drawn towards it as if in a trance. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It glowed so gently and so brightly, and yet it was not a brightness that hurt the eyes. The little blue light was like a gently shining star. She had seen things like it before. Nova had showed them to her, the firefly souls of dead Kinder.
But this…. this was so much more beautiful. Was it just because she was seeing it up close?
"…It's so pretty…Timmy's eyes are that color." She mused as she wandered over to it, feeling compelled by the sudden longing to be near it.
She tried to touch it, but was unable to. This left her feeling more dissatisfied them she thought it would. Sure enough, just gazing at this tiny little ball of light filled her with an overpowering desire to take it into her arms.
"That, my dear, is Timmy's mind-soul." Nova informed her, and she froze in surprise. This lovely little light….this was her boy? The true form that was concealed inside of a temporary mortal body. To think that it was this small little ball of light that contained every thought, emotion, memory, and personality trait that made Timmy who he was.
She couldn't stop gazing at the beautiful creature as it seemed to wander around the room.
"It's so precious…." She murmured. "It's…I can't find the words…"
"My dear, I know that this is the first instance of you witnessing a human soul at a close range. My mind takes me back to the first time I set foot in Fey world. I was captivated by the sight of them, and for months, I spent every single night just gazing at them. Even to this day, the Fey consider observing the spirits at night as a favored pastime." Nova remarked as he, too, watched Timmy's soul gently float around the room with an expression that revealed that he also thought it was a lovely little thing.
"What is this?" She asked as she noticed that there was a red thread that seemed to connect Timmy's soul with the pill bottle on the nightstand. It was translucent and floaty; visible only at certain angles.
"We refer to this as soul-thread. A period of exactly 108 days after death, this thread is severed. It is at this point that the mind-soul goes to the afterworld, and the heart-soul goes through rebirth." Nova gently stroked the thread and nodded to himself as he inspected it. "Hm. Strong, vibrant color. Remarkably well woven. Timmy must be a young soul."
"Young soul?"
"One who hasn't had many rebirths. You see, the older they get, the greater the separation is between mind-soul and heart-soul. Each rebirth weakens this thread until it's but the size and strength of a single hair. By then, hopefully they'd have become completed beings."
"….If not?"
"Humans reborn that often without achieving the goal of completion are met with the same fate as they would if their heart-souls had been destroyed; only difference is that their mind-souls waiting in the afterworld fall back to earth as ghosts, or demons, or even living curses."
She shivered, gazing at the little floating ball of astral blue light. It looked so delicate and helpless. She wanted to protect this little one from all the scary fates that might await it…
"It's so cute, isn't it?" Nova seemed to read her mind, or perhaps he was just stating his own thoughts. "We compare them to fireflies in Fey world, but I don't think it does them justice. I'd prefer to call them little stars…."
"I prefer that, too. It looks so precious." She smiled a little when the light seemed to play with the bed as it ducked under it. It was like…an adorable little baby. She really wished she could play with it….
"It is only natural you feel drawn towards it. This is the true form of your godchild after all. The human body…well, it's really just a doll that serves as a temporary house." Nova stated. "It's the same color as his eyes, is it not?"
"It is. Is that common?"
"No; tell me, does he have the same eye color as one of his parents?"
"Well…both of the Turners have blue eyes but, not the same shade. Their eyes are several shades darker."
"Hm, then…yes, yes, he's a very young soul. You see, when a soul has had less than ten rebirths, their eyes will always end up matching the color of their soul."
"Ten rebirths are very young?"
"Human souls undergo numerous cycles of rebirth. Less than ten is a little baby."
"Aww…he's a little baby soul then." She tried to tickle the little ball of light, knowing she couldn't actually touch it. So…those beautiful blue eyes were reflecting the color of his soul…no wonder she liked them so much.
"Ok, so we figure that his soul must be inside his medicine bottle." She started as she heard Jorgen's voice and became aware of footsteps approaching the room.
"So do we just hit the bottle with this ring-thing and that's it…?"
Nova's face brightened, and he looked towards her hopefully. "That voice, is that….?"
"Cosmo, yes…" She could not help but smile at the anticipation on the man's face. She did not agree with the things he had done, but it was obvious that he was missing his family and she felt sorry that his only ability to see his son was inside of dreams like this one where he'd never be able to actually interact with him.
The little astral ball of light seemed to wave around excitedly as if trying to attract attention to its self as the door opened. It kept making a tiny ringing noise, like the tiny bell on a cat's collar.
"Ah!" Nova's face brightened; the childlike joy heightened his resemblance to Cosmo. He practically had tears in his eyes as he watched his son and grandson approach the medicine bottle with Jorgen. She wondered if he ever regretted becoming a Fey…
"If I'm not mistaken, that would be baby Poof, correct? How delightful it is to see them like this! I dreamt one of little Timmy's dreams, unfortunately; it did not feature them." He now grinned, cupping his chin with his hand as he gave a little chuckle. "Though I did experience a rather amusing slumber party filled with tween girls. I suppose we did dig up that memory earlier, did we not? Though I do expect reality was a little more tame than what the dream presented."
"Oh, Timmy." She blushed. "…He really is a little antechinus, isn't he?"
"Quite." Nova agreed with laughter in his voice. Perhaps both of them had been too relaxed and unfocused, for they failed to notice any signs that something was amiss until the mirror in the room suddenly broke. A little blur raced past them, barely avoiding being caught by Jorgen and, attached to the thread as they were, the little ball of blue light was pulled along with it.
"Whoa!" She let out a surprised cry as they were both propelled through the hallway along with the mind-soul. "Why are we moving?"
"We can only see the memories he has." Nova informed, squinting against the wind in his face as they were zipped through the castle at such a speed that she felt like she might catch on fire.
Finally, they stopped, and she was surprised to see that she was in the story-time room.
"Well, this is an interesting concept. Would you mind if I borrow the idea? The Kinder would love a room like this." Nova praised her decorating skills as he looked around himself, almost like a tourist. She herself looked around too, but it was for that pretty astral blue light.
She spotted it, floating in the middle of the room; but it was no longer the brightest thing in the room. Up above them on one of the highest shelves where she kept the magic story books was a tiny, but incredibly bright light. It was not blue; it wasn't any color, just a gentle radiance of pure light. Nova squinted, apparently taken aback by that.
"It's not unusual for mind and hearts souls to be different colors, but…this is…a little peculiar."
"How so?"
"Well….it's no color." He shook his head, tilting it to the side curiously. She worriedly hoped that it having no color did not mean something bad.
"Is that unusual?"
"That is indeed the case. Following ten rebirths, the heart-soul's core color is determined, and each subsequent reincarnation adds a minor shade to its wings. The unique patterns found on the wings are commonly referred to as the soul-tattoo."
"And it having no color would mean?"
"I would need to see it up close…." Nova frowned, looking uncertain. "But I would think that if it was colorless due to damage, the stigmata on the boy would be far more severe."
That was little consolation. There was a series of chimes and bell like noises now that sounded almost like music.
"What's that?" She asked and Nova, despite still having worried eyes, managed a smile.
"Their talking. You're not a Fey, so you can't understand soul-speak. Here, allow me." He poofed up a microphone and held it out towards the two twinkling lights.
"I guess to you, being out here is the scary thing…but you can't go back inside yet. There's still some magic in there. Don't worry, they'll get it out and then you can go home. But, for that you need to let yourself get caught, ok?"
She heard Timmy's voice trying to reassure his heart-soul not to run away. She could not help but smile. He was talking in the same tone he used whenever he tried to convince Poof to finish his veggies or take an unwanted nap.
"Ooh, looks like we're going up!" Nova gave her the heads up as they were suddenly lifted into the air and found themselves up on the shelf.
"….!" She gasped, seeing the little heart-soul, a translucent little butterfly no bigger than the nail on her pinkie finger, and yet, it glowed so bright, like a diamond. "Oh….! It's so beautiful!" Maybe she ought to have had different thoughts, considering the circumstances, but she couldn't stop the exclamation from bursting through her lips. The tiny little butterfly moved close to the little firefly. They almost looked like they were cuddling!
"They look so sweet…!" She turned to look at Nova, who was wearing an astonished expression, a hand over his mouth. "What is it…?" She tensed. "Is this…is this bad? He…he's supposed to look like this, right? He's just missing some color. It's not anything serious, right?"
Nova took in a deep breath and rubbed his temples. "Forgive me, my dear, but I will need to see the soul in person before I can confirm my suspicions."
"Can you just tell me what it is you're thinking? I won't hold it against you if it's wrong, but…being left hanging like is…" She gulped. "At least tell me, is it bad?"
"I am hesitant to share the information as it could potentially worsen the situation for you if my judgement proves to be flawed." Nova apologized.
"I can take it; so please, just—-"
"Few sentiments are more demoralizing than having one's hopes crushed, so I will not disclose until I am entirely confident. I would be remorseful to cause such grievous harm to your heart in the event that my optimistic musings turn out to be mere illusions."
She wanted to proclaim herself no fragile, weepy lady who needed coddling, but to be fair, she could not quite blame Nova for thinking she was the delicate-type, not when, in the short time he had known her, she had broken down into tears twice.
"….Hurt me…"
"They don't want to hurt you."
They were both Timmy's voice, and yet somehow they were distinct from each other. The first was so fragile, so whispery and even though he had a twelve year old boy's voice, he also somehow sounded so young….
The latter, though, sounded just like the Timmy she knew and loved so much.
"Yes…yes…this voice…it gives credence to my theory…" Nova looked hopeful and was staring at the butterfly in utter fascination. She wished he'd just stop being so 'considerate of her feelings' and tell her what that theory was.
"Why would Timmy be in here?"
"Poof, poof!"
"I know they did….but…would Timmy's soul really be drawn to this room? It's a little childish….but then again, Timmy has been acting more and more childish lately."
"Oh, they are here!" Nova tore his focus away from the soul to look down at Cosmo and Poof, who had entered the room. She felt herself tense up, scowling a little at what she overheard.
"Poof, poof!"
"I'm not picking on him; I'm just saying it's like he's growing-down instead of growing-up…"
"Poof!"
"I know, I know, things have been hard on Timmy, but…if Wanda keeps coddling him, he won't be able to handle things once he's grown up."
"Huh." Nova looked surprised. "Stella's letters about him did not suggest to me that Cosmo was the strict, authoritative type."
"He's not, believe me. He's just jealous that Timmy likes me best, and he can't understand that sometimes growing boys need a little babying." She blew a raspberry down at her husband, who could not see or hear her. It pained her to know that Timmy had overheard him saying such things about him.
"Ah." Nova nodded, as though he understood the situation completely. "In my past, during my more ignorant days, Stella and I had a goddaughter who bothered me due to her inclination to play with baby toys despite her age of almost nine. It was my belief that we should gradually discontinue her engagement in such activities, yet Stella remained adamant on indulging in them, referring to them as self-soothing techniques. We had a significant quarrel over the matter, with both of us firmly believing we were right. With the passage of many years and the accumulation of much experience, I must acknowledge that my wife was correct."
"Well, I hope Cosmo comes to that same realization soon." She stated, but she did not have much hope for that.
"Yes, yes, I know Poof….Timmy's human mommy doesn't give him warm hugs, and it's very nice that you don't mind sharing your mommy with him, but…."
"Poof, poof!"
"Aww…!" She put her hands over her heart as she overheard her son proclaim that she had enough 'mommy love' for both of them. That's right, both Poof and Timmy were her sons and she had enough love to shower them both with.
"So…his human mother has no warm hugs to give, does she?" Nova glanced at her. "At least he has you….for now."
She knew he was taking the opportunity to gently goad her; but she would not make Timmy a Kinder. The only way she'd consider it was if his heart-soul could not be returned and he was in danger of oblivion.
"….Hurt me…..hurt me…!"
"He doesn't want to hurt you...he just needs to take you to Fey world so they can make us better…."
"No, no, no, no!"
"Whoa!"
"Eeep!"
She and Nova gasped as the butterfly shone brighter and the books burst out of the shelf as if knocked out by something invisible smacking the back of the shelf with significant force. The books passed right through them but rained down below on Cosmo and Poof who barely manged to shield themselves. Her baby spotted the little souls just in time to watch them zip out of the room; the butterfly-soul making a distressed little cry the entire time, whilst Timmy lectured it angrily about how it could have hurt them.
The souls eventually ducked into Poof's room and went to hide amongst a bunch of stuffed animals.
"Stuffed animals are normally a preferred vessel, but these were all conjured by magic, so he can't possess them." Nova explained, whilst peeking at the souls with a grin. "Oh, that's cute…"
"…It is." She admitted, seeing the two little lights peeking out from a small gap left in between two large teddy bears. It wouldn't be the least bit appropriate, but…she wished she could take a picture, though she doubted she could take photos while inside of Timmy's memories.
Eventually Jorgen came in and chased the souls into the hall, where they found themselves cornered. She winced, holding her ears as she heard Timmy's voice hit such a high-pitched scream that it shattered the lights in the hall and the glass flew like daggers at the trio.
"Oh oh, souls can get testy when cornered…" Nova tsked.
"STOP IT!"
Timmy's voice shouted angrily as the two souls ducked into the nearest door. Her heart ached with pity as the tiny little butterfly collapsed onto the floor in an exhausted heap and made little ringing noises that sounded like tears. She knelt down beside it, gently trying to pet it, though she knew she could not. Timmy's mind-soul hovered over it, not affected by its exhaustion, and seemed to lecture it over its behavior.
"Oh, don't be too harsh. The poor thing is terrified." She chided the astral blue light, even though Timmy could not hear her.
"It was a natural reaction to seeing those rings. I am quite surprised that Fairy world still possesses such cruel relics of such a shameful pa—ooh, not good…"
"Huh? What is it?" She blinked, confused, when his speech halted. Nova's shoulders stiffened, and he pointed with a queasy expression at the mirrors. She gasped, putting her hands to her mouth in dismay as she saw her boys reflected. The mind-soul was Timmy, dressed in the night robe he went to sleep in, standing over the butterfly-soul…a little broken boy wearing blood stained pyjamas laying on the floor crying…
"….Oh….Timmy….! My…my poor boy!" She almost approached one of the mirrors, wanting to go inside and hug her boy—both versions and tell them they were going to be ok. Nova, however, gripped her shoulder and shook his head.
"We cannot do anything. These are memories of events that already happened."
"…." It was painful, though, to see him like this and not be able to comfort him. His poor little leg…! His poor little arm…! His poor little neck…! And… all those bloody wounds. "My poor, poor boy…."
Nova patted her on the arm and passed her a handkerchief to wipe her eyes with. There she was, giving him more reasons to think she was the delicate, weepy type, but how could she not cry seeing her boy reduced to this?
It was not long before the souls were tracked to their new hiding place. The butterfly fluttered its wings weakly, but was unable to get back up. No more running away or escaping. She knew it was best that it got caught, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for it.
"…A fun-house mirror room, really?"
"I made it for Wanda when we first got married; she loves amusement parks! We had our first kiss in a fun house!"
That was true. Their first kiss had been in a fun house they had visited during the fairy festival. It was so long ago, but she had never forgotten, though she was pleasantly surprised that he had remembered. Though it was a bit embarrassing for her father-in-law to hear that, let alone Jorgen.
'Hurt….hurt me…..hurt…..hurts….hurt me….scared….scared…hurt me….why? Why…..? Hurt me….why? Scared….scared….hurt….scary….cold….cold….! Hurt….hurt….! Hurts….! Hurt me…..! Why….? Why….? Cold….scary….hurts….!"
She was forced out of her fond recollections when Timmy's voice echoed all over the room, accompanied by sobs, and the door to the room slammed shut.
"What's going on?" She asked, more creeped out than she had ever felt before in her life as several dozen bloody hand prints appeared on the mirrors, each one of them made with a squishy, smacking noise like raw flesh hitting against something solid with substantial force.
"…." Nova was messing with his bangs, shaking his head in dismay, but…had a slight smile, as if he was watching a cute kitten do something naughty. "…Well, he is at the right age for it…"
"For wha—AAAh!" She was unable to finish her question as the reflections of Timmy crawled out of the mirror and into the room, shambling and distorted by the funhouse mirrors they steadfastly moved towards the trapped trio. Timmy, the mind-soul, still in the mirror, had a look of terror on his face as he screamed for it to stop, and not to hurt anyone and—and—-
'This can't be me! This can't be me! I'm not dead, I'm dead, I'm not dead, not me, not me! Not me! No, no no, no, nooooo!' She saw the reflection of Timmy collapse in the mirror while at the same time the light of his mind-soul went dim….
She blinked, trying to clear her senses as she suddenly found herself back in the recovery room she shared with Timmy. Her god son was sleeping with a trouble expression, leaned against Nova, who was stroking his hair trying to console him.
"W-what was that….?" She shuddered—that had been…a nightmare, right? Not….not reality? It couldn't have been…real….
Nova stroked Timmy's back, more focused on calming him than answering her right now. She would not take offense. She too was worried about Timmy, who had tears leaking out from his closed eyelids.
"…So, what did we find?" Piper asked, fanning herself with an envelope.
"A horror movie." Nova admitted. "…Well, turns out he's a…very young soul, and he is at the age for it, you know…"
"Ah, so he went all poltergeist on them, did he?" Piper laughed as if the whole thing had been some kind of joke.
"Poltergeist?" She had heard the term before, of course, but what did that have to do with Timmy?
"This phenomenon is typically only observed in young souls. Upon the onset of puberty in a child, a particular energy may be generated, leading to the occurrence of poltergeist activity. Most of the time, it is a minor issue, however, occasionally it can be disruptive. I speculate that being separated from his body permitted him to manifest such activity to a greater extent than is typically seen."
"It happens 'cause child heart-souls aren't able to keep up with all the new emotions caused by the teenage mind-souls and this poltergeist energy gets unleashed as a result."
"…So….what we saw was….normal?" She gulped, unable to believe that the horror-show had been a completely natural thing.
"Made much worse by his situation, but yes, it is normal. It was not due to any contamination by magic, if that is what you are fearing." Nova reassured, rubbing the pink mark on Timmy's wrist. "And…as we saw, it was not Timmy's heart-soul that got injured, but his mind-soul. The sight of seeing himself like that…"
She remembered the sight of that beautiful astral blue light going dim and felt tears sting her eyes as she recalled the broken little boy in the mirror. Her poor Timmy….she knew he had gotten badly hurt, but seeing him look like that…
It broke her heart, and seeing himself like that had broken Timmy's mind.
"…Is there a way to fix him?" She asked, afraid. The moment Nova smiled, she felt relief, even though she had not yet heard what he had to say.
"He will be fine. This is the most common type of soul injury, one that occurs through great shock or distress. It has many effective treatments; herbs, cuddle therapy, some aromatherapy, a little pampering." Nova rubbed Timmy's back as the boy's eyes fluttered open. "Hey little fella, it's all alright now…we saw the scary thing you went through but it's all ok. Nothing bad happened."
….Was Poof and Cosmo ok? Her distress over Timmy had not chased away the very real fact that they were under the attack of a terrified little heart-soul that had decided to go full on poltergeist on them.
"Yay, they're all hunky-dory! Jorgen sent us a letter, their all A-OK, and they have your soul all caged up. Jorgen's bringing it now. He entered our forest about five minutes ago." Piper informed with a grin. She was relieved to hear it but couldn't help but be annoyed that not only had the woman not stated this sooner, but she had read the letter addressed to her. She might have said something if Timmy did make a noise that was half laugh, half sob, tears of relief running down his cheeks.
"R-really? They are all ok? Did any of them get hurt…?"
"Nah, no one got even a scratch, kiddo; don't worry your head over it." Piper said with a finger on her chin as she looked upward at the ceiling. "Mmm…well, he'll be here soon. I'll fetch him. I don't think you feel like waiting, right?"
She laughed and disappeared, taking the letter with her.
"Hey…!" She tried to protest, but the woman had already left. Nova shook his head and spoke directly into her mind so that Timmy could not hear.
'She has just communicated telepathically to me that while everyone is safe, both Jorgen and Cosmo have incurred injuries. Although they are apparently minor, we must remain cautious as to not further distress Timmy. She's proceeding to attend to Jorgen's injuries to avoid exposing them to the poor boy's sight.'
She had to admit to being surprised by Piper's act of consideration. She came across as being very brash and thoughtless but, perhaps she had a kinder, softer side to her after all?
She was glad that Poof had been unhurt, but that sight must've terrified her poor baby. She worried Cosmo might not know what to do if Poof had a nightmare. It would be nice if her entire family could be here together right now…
They spent the time as they waited for Jorgen, tending to Timmy. Cleaning his tear-stained cheeks, offering him some fairy bread and milk as a snack, and simply holding him close as they reassured him over and over that everyone was alright.
When Jorgen finally came into the room, it almost seemed as if the horrible event they had witnessed really just been in their minds. There was not a mark on him. She watched as he walked towards the bed with slumped shoulders, head bowed, and a grave expression on his face. He was carrying a cage covered with a thick white cloth, which Piper kept hovering about curiously.
"Turner…maybe you should go into a different room…" Jorgen suggested, looking a little irritated that he hadn't already been brought to a different location. He must have said to do so in the letter she had not got to read.
"There is little point, Jorgen. We've just searched the boy's memories and I can tell you that he has seen everything that happened, at least up to the point where those reflections emerged from the mirrors."
"Y-you guys r-really did not get h-hurt…right?" Timmy looked afraid that the answer would be different than what Piper had said. Jorgen looked at the pinkish bruise on his wrist and shook his head slowly.
"Nothing besides a minor heart attack. Nah, your puny soul couldn't hurt me. Poof and Cosmo's fine too."
Timmy breathed in relief and looked at her with teary eyes. "…I—I'm so sorry….my soul…it did such a bad thing…I…my souls bad….!"
"Shhh…" She held him, kissing his head, wishing she could kiss that injured little blue light that lived inside it. "It's not bad. It was just scared."
"The little guy got kicked out of his home by magic, then he's wandering around this weird magic place, and to top it off, some jar-head with a soul ring is chasing him? The poor thing had a panic attack, naturally; You wouldn't call the lion bad if it clawed someone who was poking it with a stick, would you?" Piper reassured, cooing at the covered cage.
"…" Jorgen looked uncomfortably down at the cage, and she felt curiosity to see if it looked as it had in the memory she saw, but most of all….she wanted to know if it was alright.
"Jorgen, show us the soul." Nova requested seriously, taking a glance at Piper, who tilted her head curiously. Jorgen sighed and removed the cloth.
"Ah…" She gazed at the brilliant colorless light, laying at the bottom of the cage making that little crying noise. She wanted so much to scoop the tiny thing into her hands and comfort it. Timmy made a sob at the sight of it and hid his face in her shirt. She wrapped her arms around him, rocking him gently, and imagined that little ball of blue light…."Your safe, it's ok, Timmy, shhh…."
"…" Piper put both hands over her mouth, staring over the cage with eyes as wide as dinner plates, whilst Nova inspected the caged butterfly from all angles.
"As you can see, it's far too small and has no color…something must be seriously wrong with it." Jorgen declared, and Timmy shivered in her arms.
"Don't spew such upsetting ignorance." Nova remarked. "There is no damage to this soul."
"But, the Stigmata." Jorgen stared at the wound of Timmy's wrist.
"A case of simple soul-shock, and it's the mind-soul that got hurt after witnessing that horrific spectacle." Nova looked sympathetically over at Timmy who, unmindful of Jorgen, was latching onto her the way he did whenever they played the baby game…. "He'll be out of sorts for a bit, but he'll recover with some therapy."
"But if it's not damaged, then why does it look like this?" Jorgen did not seem to believe it could have such an appearance and be unhurt. She also did not know what was going on, but the look on Piper's face was comparable to a child's on Christmas morning.
"Allow me to show you two souls up close." Nova snapped his fingers and two butterflies appeared in the room. One was the size of a monarch and the other was an enormous creature with a wingspan, easily double that of a Queen Alexandra's Birdwing. The smaller glowed yellow while the big was purple. Visible on the huge butterfly was its body; not an insect, it was a person. A genderless thing, with no hair and with very soft, unrefined facial characteristics, yet she got the sense that they were quite elderly.
Nova had to use a magnifying glass to show them the body of the smaller one; and it too had no defining characteristics except for its yellow eye color, but it was obviously a child.
"Every reincarnation adds a little age to the heart-soul; this little yellow one was roughly twenty reincarnations in; this large purple one was perhaps close to its last reincarnation. See here on the wings; it has its core color, which surrounds it in this glowing aura, but the wings have many colors and symbolic shapes based on their past lives."
"Yes, and—Turner's soul has no color at all, and it's basically a speck!" Jorgen did not seem to understand, but she had a realization forming in her head, based on what Nova had said earlier.
"Is it small and colorless because it's very young?" She asked, and Piper gave a shake of her head, looking amazed.
"Not just young."
Nova now took the magnifying glass and held it over the cage. The little crying caged heart-soul…. it was…
"A newborn baby…." She whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek as she gazed at the helpless little thing, sitting at the bottom of the cage, crying. She felt a surge of love and protectiveness wash over her, and wanted nothing more than to release it from the cage and comfort it.
"That's right." Nova confirmed, looking happy and relieved that his theory proved correct. "A brand new soul living its very first life. A new soul like this is really very special. One is only born when another soul reaches completion, making newborn souls like this incredibly rare."
"In all my years, I've never seen one before!" Piper gushed. "Oh, my mom would've been higher than the moon if she could see this! I mean this is—-! Wow, just…wow!"
"Piper speechless, an even rarer occurrence than a new soul." Nova teased with a laugh. "Ah, yes, yes, this little soul is a fine little thing. It just got into a little mischief because he was a scared wittle baby, yes he was…"
She cracked a smile as Nova lost his pretentious speech pattern to talk baby-talk to the baby soul, who looked at him, made a scared face, and covered his eyes. This only made Nova laugh and try to coax him to uncover his eyes. Timmy shyly turned his head, peeking at the cage.
"...My soul…is a baby….?"
"A special baby." She tickled him a little, forgetting Jorgen was in the room, and blushed a little as he rose a brow at her.
"A little baby who took a wittle tantrum; he's fine, a little frightened and befuddled, but otherwise adorably perfect." Piper was now also cooing over the cage.
Jorgen released a breath of relief. "So, the heart-soul has no damage and Turner's mind-soul can be cured?"
"Yes and yes, but we must request you leave the soul here." Nova stated, and Jorgen shook his head.
"If it's not injured, there is no need—!"
"The soul-thread is too thick; because it's a newborn, the separation between heart and mind souls is paper thin. Do you realize the significance that Timmy, in his sleep, had experienced everything that went on to such a degree he even suffered damage to his mind-soul as a result?"
Jorgen froze and said nothing. She, too, realized the strangeness of it. Because a human soul was weak to magic, the heart-soul was not even able to get out of the fishbowl, so how had it managed to connect with Timmy from her castle to reach him here?
"This little soul's connection to its other half was literally strong enough to reach into fey world and pull Timmy's mind-soul to it. It wasn't just the shock that caused damage to this boy." Nova looked at the stigmata still marring his wrist.
"Naturally, the soul did not mean to hurt him; but…it's a baby." Piper held out her hands in a 'what can you really do about it?' sort of gesture. "It was afraid and lonely and wanted comfort. It wanted the other soul that used to be always with it and so—forcefully fetched him to literally drag around like a teddy bear."
That would've actually been cute if it hadn't resulted in Timmy getting soul-damage….
"We must NOT separate these two." Nova stated sternly, leaving no room for arguments. "His mind-soul getting dragged out like that, especially across magical worlds…it's a literal miracle that Timmy's soul did not shatter."
"It probably only survived with a little marring because he was in his godmother's arms at the time. The magic that surrounded him in her home is also dwelling in her; it's complicated to explain, but it made a sort of bridge that made it easy for the souls to connect." Piper explained; and she squeezed Timmy tighter to her, wanting to protect him even now when he was no longer in danger.
"You mean…it used the magic inside my castle to connect with me…enter me…and then dragged Timmy's mind-soul through me and then back into my castle and then…Timmy's mind-soul once again passed through me to get back into his body." She tried to wrap her head around it, but it felt so confusing. Piper nodded, clicking her tongue.
"Yup, pretty wild, right? I heard that newborn souls were very adaptable and capable of pulling off some off-the wall stunts, but, man oh man, that's just crazy."
Jorgen clicked his tongue, looking unhappy but conceded. "I see…. no choice then."
"I was a teddy bear….to my soul…my infant soul….?" Timmy was still suffering the effects of shock, but he seemed to be getting a handle on himself and she affectionately cuddled him.
"An adorable little teddy bear to an adorable little soul."
"You…don't think it's bad….? Even though it attacked Poof and Cosmo…? You don't think it—me…is bad…?" He looked at her, worried even though her response should have already been obvious.
"It's just a scared baby; look at it—it's taking a peek at us and…aww, a smile! It's smiling at you. Go ahead, take a closer look. It might make you feel better. It's not scary, it's cute." She encouraged, telling Timmy to approach the cage. The little soul inside had spotted him and had broken out into a baby's grin, reaching two chubby arms towards him. Timmy approached the cage timidly and then peeked at the soul, getting close enough to the cage that if the soul could stick its arm out through the threads laced across the bars of the cage, it could touch his nose.
"…Precious."
"Adorable."
The two Fey in the room looked as if they were staring at a masterpiece of artwork, a fascinating tableau, but the sight mesmerized her for a completely different reason.
Her little mortal boy…face to face with the one part of him that could someday achieve an immortal state. Her blue-eyed angel who would someday die, and the infant butterfly that would live many, many lives…the Timmy she knew and loved, being only a tiny speck of its whole at the end of its growth.
…If only this little baby butterfly could always just be Timmy…then she would never have to lose her boy.